Saturday, the Fourth of July, dawned clear for the fourth day in a row, according to Spartan Band diarist William H. Hill. The late Gen. Barksdale’s Mississippi Brigade had withdrawn during the night along with the rest of the division, … Continue reading →

Friday, July 3, 1863, dawned clear on the battlefield south of Gettysburg, according to Spartan Band diarist William H. Hill who added that it became very warm as the day progressed. Friends of Private Nimrod Newton Nash buried him, and … Continue reading →

No one might ever have known what happened to the Mississippi Brigade’s commander, General William Barksdale, but for the kindness of two Union soldiers: Private David Parker of the 14th Vermont and Musician Robert A. Cassidy of the 148th Pennsylvania. … Continue reading →

Civil War artist Mort Kunstler’s sentimental conception of Gen. William Barksdale leading his Mississippi Brigade on Juy 2, 1863, into the line of the Zouaves of the 114th Pennsylvania in the Sherfy farmyard.

By some accounts, Gen. William Barksdale, of Columbus, Mississippi, the 13th Regiment’s colonel at muster in 1861, spent the late afternoon of July 2, 1863, in frustration. He was trying to get his division and corps commanders to allow his … Continue reading →

Barksdale’s Mississippi Brigade formed in the Pitzer Woods on Seminary Ridge, behind a low stone wall in the late afternoon of July 2, 1863. It was a clear and warm Thursday. “…the order was given to ‘strip for the fight,’ … Continue reading →